Fugitive?
by MarzBunni
Summary: Yusuke's cousin comes to town and a fugitive spirit is on the loose. What will happen?
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This has been lying around in a notebook for a while, and I wanted to get it typed up and posted so I wouldn't lose it. Sorry I'm not working on the important fic.

-=-=-=-=-

Ryou looked up at his new school. It looked very similar to his last one. He sighed.

"Wonderful." He muttered. "As soon as I make friends, my father transfers me to be closer to family." Ryou had met his father's sister yesterday, and he was not very impressed. Atsuko Urameshi was a drunkard, and her house was a mess. She said that she had a son, but Ryou hadn't seen him yet, and he'd been there for a whole weekend. Her son also went to this school, so he supposed he'd be meeting his cousin sometime today. Ryou entered the building and headed over to the main office to get his class number, then went to his classroom.

The teacher introduced him to the class, "This is the new student, please welcome him everyone, and treat him well," Ryou bowed "Hello, I am Ryou Bakura, pleased to meet you." Kuwabara glanced at the new student, then went back to passing notes with his friends. Keiko stared at Ryou, wondering if his hair color meant that he was a demon, but then decided that it didn't really matter, and she'd find out when she found out.

Yusuke was not in the classroom, but rather on the roof, so he made no observations on Ryou at this point.

Ryou sat down at his assigned desk, which was at the front of Kuwabara's row, and began to take notes on the teachers lecture.

At lunch, Keiko, being the nice person that she was, decided to talk to Ryou, and perhaps invite him up to the roof to eat. This was not intended in any way, shape, or form to see if Yusuke or Kuwabara thought there was anything wrong with Ryou and especially not intended to make Yusuke jealous.

"Hello," said Keiko, after making her way to Ryou's desk.

Ryou didn't say anything for a moment, then he smiled and said "Hello, what's your name?"

"I'm Keiko Yukimura, it's nice to meet you" replied Keiko, smiling back.

"Was there something you needed?" asked Ryou, curios to her intentions.

"I was wondering if you'd like to eat lunch on the roof with my friends and I." Keiko answered.

"That sounds wonderful" said Ryou "I would love to." Ryou stood and joined her, flinching a bit when he stretched his stomach. Keiko led him up to the roof, easily ignoring his flinch, where Yusuke and Kuwabara were waiting.

As soon as they got to the roof, Yusuke came up and flipped Keiko's skirt. Ryou jumped out of surprise just as Keiko yelled "Yusuke! You pervert!" and slapped him.

"Ow, Keiko!" griped Yusuke. "That hurt!"

"You deserved it Urameshi." said Kuwabara.

"You're making a bad impression on the new student!" yelled Keiko, slightly upset.

Ryou just stared at the spectacle.

"Oh!" said Kuwabara, "You're that new kid."

"What new kid?" said Yusuke, slightly peeved.

"You would know if you hadn't skipped class this morning!" shouted Keiko.

Ryou slowly edged over towards a different part of the roof, trying to avoid becoming a participant in the verbal brawl. He sat down once he was a reasonable distance away, and took out his lunch. Kuwabara came over and sat by him, continuing to watch the spectacle that was Yusuke and Keiko fighting. Ryou glanced over at the red head, and realized he didn't know his name.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Wha-?" said Kuwabara, startled. "Oh. I'm Kazuma Kuwabara. You're Ryou right?"

"Yes." Ryou smiled, ignoring the sudden commentary in his head.

-Yadonushi, what are you doing?-

~- Just talking to a classmate.~-

-Just don't make any plans for the weekend, because you won't be conscious for most of it-

Ryou sighed, flinched, then turned to resume conversation with Kuwabara.

"So," began Kuwabara, "Why'd you transfer in the middle of term?"

Ryou's smile faltered, but he kept it up.

"My father wanted me to be close to family while he was away." he said. "He also said something about my friends being a bad influence."

"That's to bad." said Kuwabara.

Now, by this time, Yusuke and Keiko had temporarily stopped their feuding, and were listening to the conversation.

"Where are you staying?" asked Keiko.

"At my aunt's house." answered Ryou.

"What's her name?" queried Keiko, still curious.

"Atsuko Urameshi." Ryou replied.

"WHAT?!" shouted Kuwabara and Yusuke.

Ryou just stared at them, wondering what he'd said wrong.

"You're staying with Yusuke's mom?!" exclaimed Keiko.

"Wait..." said Yusuke "you're my cousin?!"

"Yes to both questions, I think." replied Ryou.

"Are you the mysterious missing son that I've heard about?" asked Ryou.

"Yup! I'm Yusuke Urameshi!" said Yusuke.

"I'm Ryou Bakura," replied Ryou. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You've managed to tolerate my mom?" asked Yusuke, surprised.

"Yes." answered Ryou, "Although I rather dislike her drinking habit."

"Meet me after school." said Yusuke "It's really best to stay out of the house as much as possible."

After Ryou had left with Keiko, Kuwabara stared at Yusuke.

"Why are you bringing him with us?" he asked, confused.

"'Cause I want to have Genkai's opinion of my cousin. Didn't you notice? There's something a little off about him." Yusuke replied.

"Hmm... Okay." said Kuwabara.

=-=-=-=-

After School

=-=-=-=-

Ryou, Keiko, and Kuwabara met Yusuke at the gate. Keiko looked very upset that Yusuke had not returned to class. They walked Keiko to her family's restaurant, then headed to the border of town. Ryou looked more and more worried as they neared the edge of town.

'I hope they aren't going to try and beat me up.' he thought.

Shortly afterwards they arrived at the shrine steps, and began to climb. It took them quite a while, and Kuwabara and Yusuke were surprised that Ryou wasn't very out of breath by the time they arrived at the top of the stairs.

"So, Yusuke," began Ryou "What are we doing here?"

"Ah... Uh..." Yusuke choked "To meet some of my friends."

"Really?"

"Yup."

They headed towards the back of the shrine.

"Who's this?" asked Genkai as she appeared out of thin air.

Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped, still surprised even after all the times this had happened. Ryou, however, only opened his eyes a bit wider.

"This is my cousin, Ryou Bakura." answered Yusuke, for once deciding not to yell.

"Is he another dimwit?" asked Genkai.

"I dunno, granny." Yusuke taunted.

Their conversation degenerated from there.

Ryou looked back and forth as Genkai and Yusuke began to verbally brawl. After a short period of time, a redheaded high schooler walked up, looking slightly amused at the fight. As the boy walked up a voice spoke out. "Who's the human?"

Ryou jumped and spun around. Kuwabara also started, but less severely.

"Gah! Shorty!" he exclaimed.

Ryou looked downwards and saw a black-haired boy with an odd starburst of white in his hair. The boy glared up at hime with starling red eyes.

"Good. Everyone's here." said Genkai, disengaging from her bout with Yusuke.

"So, what's your cousin doing here?" asked Genkai.

"Ah," began Yusuke "He's scared of my mom, so he doesn't want to go home."

"Who's going to baby-sit him, while I give you your mission information."

"Baby-sit?" asked Ryou, sounding only slightly offended.

"Don't worry about it Bakura." Yusuke said, brushing him off.

"fox, you do it, you already know what's going on." Genkai decide.

"Alright." he said, smiling calmly.

=-=-=-=-

"So what's the toddler want us to do now?" yawned Yusuke.

"A new spirit energy came into range. It is believed to be the fugitive Ba-Khu-Ra. He tried ending the world a few millennia ago, and he had defiled several tombs causing several people to not make it into the Reikai."

"Wow." said Kuwabara "So what kind of demon is he?"

"Hn." said Hiei. "He isn't."

"What?" exclaimed Yusuke.

"Thief King Ba-Khu-Ra, as he call himself was human. He was imprisoned in a relic upon his death and Reikai's government hoped he would stay there. However, it appears that he can now possess whoever hold the relic."

"How'd he do that?" asked Kuwabara.

"According to Koenma, the relic he was sealed in allows the user to imbue things or people with pieces of their soul." droned Genkai.

"That wasn't very smart." said Kuwabara.

"Well, duh." said Yusuke.

"Now, since you're all here," began Genkai expectantly "you may as well help fix up the shrine a little."

"No way granny!" protested Yusuke.

... and they were arguing again.

-=-=-=-=-

"So... your name is?" Ryou asked.

"Shuichi Minamino." answered Kurama. "You are Ryou Bakura?"

"Yes."

Ryou fidgeted as awkward silence descended once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! This is a rather surprising thing for me, updating so quickly, but I already had this written out on paper. Please don't expect me to update so swiftly all the time.

-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Why'd we bring Bakura, again?" Kuwabara muttered to Yusuke.

"He's scared of my mom." Yusuke whispered back.

"Why doesn't he just hang out with his friends?"

"He hasn't got any, that I know of."

Ryou glanced over at them, able to hear what they were saying. Kurama noticed this, as did Hiei, and Kurama attempted to distract him.

"So, where were you staying before now?"

"Domino City."

"Really? Isn't that the Duel Monsters world capitol?"

"Yes. Do you duel?"

"No, I've been too busy with my studies to learn. Do you?"

"A little, although I prefer table top role playing games."

Ryou didn't say anything further, and Kurama decided not to try to continue the conversation. Silence descended.

"So, Yusuke," Kurama began, attempting to make things less awkward. "Are we getting any closer to out destination?"

"It seems like we're really close, but it's seemed that way for most of our search. It's been fluctuating like crazy, too."

"Hmm... That's odd."

Ryou stared at them oddly, wondering what fluctuations had to do with GPS systems, and wondered where they were going.

Hiei snorted as Kurama leaned over Yusuke's shoulder to peer at the device.

"The readings say to go left, let's turn here."

They walked past the rest of the group.

"It says to go left again." said Kuwabara, who had decided to join them.

"Okay." Kurama went to stand by Ryou, as Kuwabara and Yusuke began to, oddly enough, circle Ryou and Kurama.

"Ah..." Ryou began, uncertainly "You're walking in circles, Yusuke."

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked up from the cell-phone like object. "WHAT?!" they chorused.

"This doesn't make any sense!" continued Yusuke.

He walked towards the two he had been orbiting. The device beeped and he looked down at it. "Huh? I'm getting closer?"

"Why is it pointing at Kurama?" asked Kuwabara "He's not the thief we're looking for."

"Me?' asked Kurama "Are you sure about that?"

"Who else could it be? Certainly not-No, it can't be." Yusuke looked hard at Ryou.

"Ryou?" Kuwabara was dumbfounded. "How could Ryou be the source of the reading?"

Hiei jumped down from his perch in a nearby tree.

"Hn. Can't you sense it?"

"The negative energy is coming from Bakura." Kurama continued.

"Me? Negative energy? What are you talking about?" Ryou innocently queried.

"Why don't you tell us?" asked Kurama.

"I really have no idea what you mean."

Hiei stepped forward and pulled down his headband. Ryou stopped moving, and Hiei began to read his mind. Ryou dropped into a fighting stance, and Hiei moved quickly forward, putting his sword to Ryou's neck.

"What's wrong Hiei?"

"His mind changed. His shields are much stronger."

"Do that again and I will destroy you." threatened Ryou.

"What? What do you mean Bakura?"

"That isn't Bakura." Hiei stated.

Everyone readied themselves for battle, hands straying to hair and pockets.

Ryou chuckled in a mildly disturbing manner, and reached into his pocket, drawing out... a deck of cards? Hiei growled and moved his sword, drawing a thin line of blood on Ryou's neck. After a moment, Ryou, or whoever was in possession of his body, glanced around, then snarled and looked down. When he looked up again, he was Ryou. He flinched, and tried to draw back from Hiei's sword. "What's going on? When did Hiei get here? How did he get a sword?"

"Wh-what just happened?" asked Kuwabara.

"Was that... the soul we were looking for?" wondered Yusuke.

"I don't know what you mean. I'm sorry, but I really don't know what's going on. I tend to black out every once in a while, so I apologize for whatever it was I did to offend you." said Ryou.

Hiei glanced sharply at Ryou, Knowing he wasn't telling the whole truth. He looked to Kurama, as he was the default leader in situations where he wasn't allowed to kill anything.

"We should take him to Koenma," supplied Kurama.

"That's a good idea Kurama." said Yusuke.

"Alright. Will you contact Botan?"

"...Yes." sighed Yusuke.

He pulled out his compact and dialed Botan.

"Wait, what?" asked Ryou "Where are you planning on taking me?"

"To talk to our boss." answered Kurama.

Ryou blinked and stared, as the information had not helped him at all. He paused, listening, then decided that whatever they were talking about, he'd deal with it came up. Right now he'd just worry about what it meant that his cousin had a compact, in a rather fetching shade of pink.

"Hullo." said a blue-haired girl in a pink kimono, floating on an oar. Ryou stared incredulously, feeling that his eyes would pop out soon if he kept staring at things like this. Ryou was certain that that girl had not been there a moment before.

"Hi Botan." called Yusuke.

"Are you all ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"W-wait!" cried Ryou, but she had already surrounded the group in and odd bubble and flew upwards. As she barrel rolled for the 3rd time, Ryou just knew that he was going to be sick.


	3. Chapter 3

As the blue-haired girl-Botan- landed, Ryou collapsed to the ground and heaved, almost throwing up. He held his stomach after the spasms had stopped, and looked up at the large, intimidating gate. Yusuke and Kuwabara were looking at him sympathetically, while Botan appeared upset and Hiei and Kurama looked on, unaffected.

Kuwabara walked over and offered Ryou a hand up.

"Well," began Botan "Let's get going, shall we?"

Kuwabara pulled Ryou up and helped him along as the group progressed through the large doors. They walked for a few minutes before entering a large, busy area. Ogres ran around carrying large stacks of paper, while others frantically chattered into phones. They went around the center, to another set of doors, and entered.

The first thing Ryou saw as he entered the room was a large desk, masquerading as a paper tower. He looked around as Botan approached the desk, curiously observing the Duel Monster-like ogre.

"Lord Koenma, Yusuke and the suspect have arrived, along with the other spirit detectives."

"Thank you, Botan." an odd sounding voice said.

The papers around the desk rustled as someone pushed them aside to see the visitors. As Ryou watched, the tower parted, and a small child was revealed. The figure he cut was not very intimidating, as he clenched a pacifier in his teeth and wore a large hat with the word 'Jr.' inscribed upon it, but everyone, even Yusuke, showed him a degree of respect.

"So, this is Ba-Khu-Ra?"

"Not exactly." replied Kurama "It appears that Yusuke's cousin, Ryou Bakura, is being possessed, unknowingly, by the fugitive."

Koenma looked at the unassuming high schooler, noticing an odd glint in his eyes, almost as if two people were looking out of them at once.

Ryou was getting more worried with every glance in his direction, he moved back a step, trying to conceal himself from their scrutiny. Suddenly, he realized just how boxed in he was. Hiei was leaning on the wall by the door, and Kuwabara and Yusuke flanked him on either side. He shrank into himself as Kurama and Koenma continued their discussion, feeling the spirit swelling up inside.

"Have you located the artifact allowing him to possess him yet?" Koenma asked.

"No. We figured it best to wait until we got here so that you could monitor the search. We don't know what we're looking for, and we were hoping you might."

"Alright."

Kurama turned and nodded at Yusuke and Kuwabara. They grabbed Ryou's arms as Kurama walked towards him. Ryou began to struggle, trying to get out of their hold. As Kurama reached out to Ryou, he –changed- again.

"Let me go!" Ba-Khu-Ra shouted. "You dare lay your hands on me!"

Kurama reached towards Ryou's chest, and unbuttoned his shirt, trying to get at the power he sensed there. As Ryou's shirt came undone, a glinting golden object was revealed. Yusuke looked at it with interest as he helped restrain Ba-Khu-Ra, who had started to thrash violently after the item was exposed. Kurama finished with Ryou's top and pulled it off, revealing a ring-like object with spikes, embedded in Ryou's chest.

Kuwabara gasped and even Koenma turned a little green. Kurama looked over at the ogre still standing by Koenma's desk.

"Go get some bandages, antiseptic, and a suture."

The ogre scurried off to fetch the items, and Ba-Khu-Ra stopped struggling. Kurama glanced down at his stomach, seeing an odd group of markings, probably Egyptian in nature, freshly tattooed there. Kurama sighed and got to work as the supplies arrived. Yusuke continued to hold Ryou down as Kurama slowly removed the spikes. However, when he let go they fell down deliberately and tried to rebury themselves in Ryou's flesh.

Kurama reached up into his hair and picked a seed, placing it on Ryou's chest, forming a vine that restrained the ring while he worked out another spike. After he had finished, he pulled it over Ryou's head and offered it to Koenma.

"Ah... thank you, Kurama." he said, as he gestured at one of his ogres to take it.

"Is-is Ryou gonna be okay?" asked Kuwabara, as Kurama began to stitch up and bandage Ryou's chest.

"He should be fine." Kurama replied.

"Y-yeah!" Yusuke exclaimed, "After all he's related to me! There's no way an Urameshi would go down that easily!"

Ryou groaned as he became aware of his surroundings. "What happened?" he asked.

"We got that Ring out of you." Yusuke answered. "Now you won't have to worry about that spirit anymore."

Ryou looked surprised, then a happy smile lit his face, though it seemed almost patronizing.

"Thank you, I'm very happy." Kurama and Hiei thought this sounded like a token phrase, not really felt too strongly, but left it alone.

"Well," Koenma began "that should take care of things. Why don't you take him home?"

"Alright." complied Yusuke.

-----(After flying home with Botan, Ryou not getting sick this time)---

Botan flew off, waving goodbye. Yusuke started, as if realizing something.

"Hey, can someone take Ryou home tonight? Mom's probably drunk out of her mind again, and Ryou's hurt."

"Sure. I'll take him" said Kuwabara. "My sister won't care."

"Okay." Everyone turned their separate ways, heading home for the night. Ryou leaned on Kuwabara as they headed to his house, a sort of not-hope glistening in his eyes.

--------

A/N- Yeah, this isn't going to be a romance, so don't expect any non-innocent intentions where Ryou and the Reikai-Tantei are concerned. Sorry for not updating in so long, but I'm still getting used to AP English, which seems to take up all my time.


End file.
